LTCA

I will admit it.  I hate the time changes.  I suppose others do, too.  Did you know that the first workday after this spring change is the most dangerous working day of the year? And apparently it's not just work accidents that increase.  So take care out there, Gentle Readers! And perhaps we need to begin a new grass-roots movement: LTCA: Leave The Clock Alone.  Wanna join me?

Sabbath Songs...

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing by Charles Wesley,  1739

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

In Christ your Head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun
Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone
And filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,
’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life
I then began to live.

Then with my heart I first believed,
Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received
To call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood
Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God,
For me, for me He died!

I found and owned His promise true,
Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew
When written on my heart.

Look unto Him, ye nations, own
Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

See all your sins on Jesus laid:
The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,
And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep,
And wash the Æthiop white.

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew
In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Last weekend's get-away

Last weekend we were the guests of dear friends, Bob and Rachel, who are building an amazing house in the collegiate peaks area of Colorado.  The weekend brought gray skies and blustery winds, but warm fellowship.

A little Joy with EJF

I received many new pictures of Emma yesterday, and just had to share a few.  Thank you for indulging me, Gentle Readers.  Isn't she adorable?

Happy birthday Elsa!

May you have the kind of day that is filled with the joy and love that you bring to our lives!

A prisoner of hope...

In my bible readings this week, I finished off the book of  Zechariah.  Strange book, Zechariah. It is chock full of strange imagery and apocalyptic visions.  It is a strange book.

But one phrase in the book captured my moral imagination.  Zechariah talks about God's people being a "prisoner of hope" (and I failed to mark it as I read it, and of course, had a dickens of a time finding it.  Thank God for searchable bible databases! ) It says in Zechariah 9:12:

Return to the stronghold,
      You prisoners of hope.
      Even today I declare
      That I will restore double to you.

So, I have been pondering this idea of being a "prisoner of hope".  That means I can't escape it.  No matter how hard I try to be discouraged or how thoroughly I am tempted to despair, I am a prisoner of hope. That hope binds me, and in some way, defines me.  And earlier in that same passage, Zechariah describes the source of that hope:

 ⁹ “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
      Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
      Behold, your King is coming to you;
      He is just and having salvation,
      Lowly and riding on a donkey,
      A colt, the foal of a donkey.

So I am a prisoner of hope in Christ; and not dependent on my feelings, my righteousness, my successes or failures.  That hope depends not on my emotional color du jour, but on that humble King, bringing salvation.  What a great place to be held captive!

A generous God...

Last week I saw my oncologist, and got nothing but good news.  I still have a full tank of iron-- we'll recheck that in a couple of months.  And I am almost to my three-year anniversary of being diagnosed with breast cancer.  That means I get to go to mammograms and ultrasounds just once a year. That means no tests until November!!!   That feels like being set free!  And all my scopes came back good and clean, with nothing to worry about.  So I feel, once again, like a free woman for a while.  God is so very good to me.  He showers blessings on me that I do not deserve. Join me in praising Him, Gentle Reader! May you know His generosity as I have!